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Homosexuality is considered a sin, or an illness, an ideological
deviation or a betrayal of one's culture. The repression that lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered (LGBT) people face is
often passionately defended by governments or individuals in the name of religion, culture, morality or public health. By
dehumanizing Transgendered people and maginalizing them as "other", leaders know that they are fostering a climate in which
the public will not be concerned about the human rights of lgbt people.
Human rights are founded on the concept for the inherent dignity and worth of
the human person. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) opens with the simple but powerful statement that "all
members of the human family" have equal and inalienable rights, an affirmation that should be seen as of the most significant
legacies of the 20th century.
As the new millenium commences, a sizeable minority of the world's population continues
to be denied full membership of that "human family". Governments around the world deploy an array of repressive laws and practices
to deprive their lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered citizens of their dignity and to deny them their basic human rights.
LGBT people are imprisoned under laws which police the bedroom and criminalize a kiss; they are tortured to extract confessions
of "deviance" and raped to "cure" them of it; they are killed by "death squads" in societies which view them as "disposables";
they are executed by the state which portrays them as a threat to society.
These are violations of some of the fundamental
rights which the UDHR seeks to protect and which Amnesty International (AI) and International LGBT Network of Amnesty International
(ILGBT) campaigns to defend. AI and ILGBT addresses questions on GLBT issues of: equal right to life; equal freedom
from arbitrary arrest; equal freedom from torture and ill-treatment; equal freedom of expression and association; equality
before the law; and equality in dignity and rights.
LINKS
Remembering Our Dead : A memorial site by Gwendolyn Smith about
the many people who died or were killed
as a result of hate or predjudice against trans-perceived individuals. When you look at the names here, remember these people. Cry for those who we have lost, and let your
anger out for a society that would allow them to die. http://www.rememberingourdead.org/#
Remembering Our Family and Friends : This website has been established and created, in and for
the honor of all those in the Transgender Community who have travelled the transitional road, in some aspect, and have gone
on to their final resting place.
Amnesty International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Network is a worldwide voluntary, activist,
movement that works impartially to prevent violations of people's fundamental rights. http://www.ai-lgbt.org/eng.htm
İMike's Transgendered Planet 2005
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